Mar 4, 2009

Out of lemon flowersloosedon the moonlight, love'slashed and insatiableessences,sodden with fragrance,the lemon tree's yellowemerges,the lemonsmove downfrom the tree's planetarium

Delicate merchandise!The harbors are big with it-bazaarsfor the light and thebarbarous gold.We openthe halvesof a miracle,and a clotting of acidsbrimsinto the starrydivisions:creation'soriginal juices,irreducible, changeless,alive:so the freshness lives onin a lemon,in the sweet-smelling house of the rind,the proportions, arcane and acerb.

Cutting the lemonthe knifeleaves a little cathedral:alcoves unguessed by the eyethat open acidulous glassto the light; topazesriding the droplets,altars,aromatic facades.

So, while the handholds the cut of the lemon,half a worldon a trencher,the gold of the universewellsto your touch:a cup yellowwith miracles,a breast and a nippleperfuming the earth;a flashing made fruitage,the diminutive fire of a planet.

Pablo Neruda

Pablo Neruda (1904-1973) born in Chile. His real name was Ricardo Reyes Basoalto. His poems have been translated into English. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1971. You can tell Mr. Neruda was a lover. His poems are of love, love, love. Read More

4 comments:

What a beautiful tribute to a unique fruit! However, this translation seems a bit too complex. A good anthology of English translations is "The Essential Neruda." It doesn't have this poem, but it has all of Neruda's most famous works.

If you really like Neruda, check out Red Poppy at www.redpoppy.net. It's a non-profit set up to create a documentary about Neruda, publish his biography, and translate his works into English. To see our blog about Nerudá's literary activism, click on "Journal."

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